An Autumn walk around Grasmere and Rydal Water

Autumn in the Lake District can often be one of the most sublime times of the year, truly a “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” as Keats said. As I looked out of our hotel window over breakfast however and saw the leaves rapidly falling from the trees I wondered whether there would be any left to enjoy on my walk. I needn’t have worried, when the rain stopped there was still plenty of Autumn Gold to make for a very enjoyable walk around two of the smaller lakes in the district.

The journey starts from the North car park at Grasmere and after crossing the bridge, a short but pleasant path is followed along the River Rothay until it joins the village road at Sarah Nelsons famous gingerbread shop. After stocking up on gingerbread the Red Bank Rd soon takes you away from the bustle and tourists in Grasmere and out towards the Lake itself. After a kilometre or so on the quiet road a clearly signed footpath on the left takes you off the road and down to the lake shore.

The Lake Shore path is a pleasant, albeit short walk, with views across the lake and plenty of benches to sit on and admire the scenery of Grasmere and the surrounding fells. Soon, the footbridge at the southern end of the lake is reached and you can look back along the whole length of Grasmere toward the village itself.

It’s here that a decision has to be made, if time is short you can cross over the bridge and follow the road back to Grasmere village. Alternatively you can enjoy a longer and much more interesting walk by leaving the baby buggies and dog walkers behind and heading up and over the lower slopes of Loughrigg Fell until you join the path that tracks around Rydal Water.

Where the Rydal path is joined, there is a choice of two paths around the South of Rydal Water, the higher one is probably best for both interest and views of the surrounding Fells. The path slopes upwards and just after the crest of the higher path you arrive at Rydal cave, which is in fact a disused slate quarry honed out of the rock by quarry men long since passed. There are stepping stones and the floor is covered with a shallow mini lake of water. I imagine when the sun is out and the weather is hot the cave provides welcome relief and shade and also good lunch stop.

From the bridge over the River Rothay at Rydal

After leaving the cave the path winds itself down towards the lake but veers off and there is a short wooded section on a track past some cottages before a steep drop to the bridge over the River Rothay at Rydal.

After crossing over the busy A591, watch out for fast moving traffic there is a short but steep haul up the road that leads to Rydal Hall before the old coffin route is joined at Rydal Mount. The route is ancient and as its name suggests was built to convey the dearly departed from Rydal to a final resting place in consecrated ground at Grasmere. I, being very much alive can enjoy the views across Rydal Water to Loughrigg Fell and pick out the route I followed a short while earlier across the valley.

Grasmere comes back into view at White Moss Common

The walking is good along the coffin route, as you may expect considering what had to carried along it. Maybe some of the quarry men who honed out Rydal Cave across the valley may have passed this way on route to their final resting place. A well maintained and fairly level path is followed at a reasonable height along the valley giving good views of the surrounding fells through the trees. After a while a dry stone wall, covered in moss forms a boundary wall to the path and as I follow it my mind wanders as to who may have built it and just how old it may be. At White Moss Common, Grasmere lake and the village come back into view and shortly after this a lane is joined that leads you back to the village itself past Wordsworth’s house, Dove Cottage.

For map and route details of this walk click on ‘learn more’ below.